


Do You Do Hugs?

by Uriel_Dresden24



Category: Fate: The Winx Saga (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alcohol, Farah is good with children, Good Dad Ben Harvey, Good Dad Saul, I will fix Canon myself, Meant to be friends but you can take it how you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:01:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29053311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uriel_Dresden24/pseuds/Uriel_Dresden24
Summary: Or Five times over the years Farah has been Headmistress at Alfea and has shown that she is good with kids and One time she wasn't. Can be read as a companion piece to "A Sleepless Night" but you don't have to read it to understand. Stand-Alone.
Relationships: Farah Dowling & Ben Harvey & Saul Silva
Comments: 29
Kudos: 145





	Do You Do Hugs?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laura/gifts).



> There is alcohol mentioned in this (I use the same concept twice don't judge me) because it is canon to the show that they drink. No children are harmed by drinking. There is always a sober adult present.
> 
> I have waaaay too much fun creating rumors to go around Alfea. You can take them as real, you can take them as fake, it's up to you. Is there a ship you like? Read it however, I meant it as friendship but it is up for interpretation. Some things are loosely paraphrased from the show, I need to rewatch it again. Also? There are gaps in canon that I took the liberties of filling. Let me know what you think!

#1  
Farah was tired. She had been working constantly since she took over for Rosalind as Headmistress of Alfea recruiting students, vetting professors, approving the curriculum, keeping the Solarian Queen at bay. She realized she had been reading the same line of the young Queen’s letter for the past five minutes and set it down on her desk, rubbing her eyes. 

With a sigh, she pushed back her chair and walked over to where she kept her stash of whiskey, pouring a generous two fingers. 

“Is that for me?” Saul’s voice murmured tiredly next to her ear. It was only years of being a soldier that prevented her from jumping, as it was she had to reign in her magic.

“I’m going to put a bell on you.” She glared, handing him the glass. She was about to pour herself one when she spied a tuft of blonde hair sticking out from the front of Saul’s chest.

“Is that Sky?” 

“Mmm.” 

She watched him knock back the glass, settling into the couch she had put in when Ben had fallen asleep standing up one two many times as she peered closer at her oldest friend. It appeared that the child was wrapped securely against him with what looked suspiciously like a scarf. 

“What is that?” She demanded, hoping he wasn’t trusting the safety of the toddler to a scrap of fabric. 

Saul answered her with a snore. 

She huffed out a breath, fetching the glass from between his fingers before it could shatter on the ground. In the wrap, Sky started to stir. 

“Typical,” she muttered, “leave the one person who doesn’t like babies with a fussy one.” Careful not to disturb Saul, she unwrapped Sky and picked him up as he started to fuss even louder. She cradled him against her shoulder like she had seen Ben do with his kids, “What are we going to do with you, young Eraklyon?” 

Sky’s face puckered in response and she quickly made shushing noises, bouncing him gently. She thought quickly; Ben sang songs to his children, Saul talked about the basics of swordsmanship to bore Sky to sleep. She wasn’t confident in her ability to do either, so she did the next best thing.

“Magic,” she started, “comes from your emotions...”

Hours later, Saul was woken up by a sunbeam hitting his eye with suspiciously good aim, Sky tucked safely into the wrap exactly how Saul had wrapped him before their stroll. 

#2  
A week later found Farah walking down to the greenhouse, she needed Ben’s expertise in identifying a substance she had found growing in one of the Specialist dorms. She hoped it was nothing to worry about, the last thing the school needed was magical fungi growing due to sweaty teenagers. 

When she got there, she found Ben passed out at his work bench, oblivious to the toddler pulling at his retreating hair or the newborn gumming at his shirt. 

“Well. This won’t do.” 

Since the run-in with Sky, Farah had been doing quite a bit of research about the care of infants and their mental development. Nowhere in her books stated that eating fabric was good for babies. Gently, she used her magic to levitate Ben into a more comfortable position while floating the babies towards her. 

“Are you hungry?” She asked the children, she spied empty bottles underneath the bench Ben had previously occupied and rejected the notion. 

Little Terra’s face scrunched as Same rubbed his eyes. She glanced at the clock and confirmed her suspicions, it was naptime. 

She settled them against her before she began her walk back and forth across the greenhouse.

She hummed under her breath, occasionally managing to sing the half-remembered words before resorting back to humming. The children, she decided, must absolutely be tone deaf for they fell asleep around the fifth time she hummed the same tune. 

She breathed in the scent that was unique to babies and sighed, this was who she had fought for. Who they had all fought for, really. The next generation that would not know the sound Burned Ones made, the  
next generation that would know peace where hers had only known war. 

She paused in her humming as the thought occurred to her and slowly sunk in. She was a headmistress in a time of peace, so why was she still preparing for war? One day Sky, Terra, and Sam would all be walking through her doors as students. Did she really want them to be taught the same way she was? To be pushed to their breaking points and then even farther?

She felt the curious brush against her mind that alerted her that Ben was waking up. As quickly as she could without disturbing Terra and Sam, she settled them against Ben and left before he could fully regain consciousness. 

She had things to do.

#3  
There were no such things as secrets at Alfea. If there was a secret, within a week the entire school would know. It had happened when a Specialist and a Fairy were secretly pining over the same Fairy and led to no less than six broken hearts in three days and Farah was still dealing with the fallout. 

So the Calming Corner was not a secret per se, everyone knew that if they were on the verge of breaking they could go to the top secret Calming Corner and leave feeling better. What the rumor mill did not reveal, regardless of inquiries from both faculty and students, was how. Was the Calming Corner enchanted? Was there a ghost living in the Corner that gave sage advice? Was it a video? 

Gideon thought it was a fake rumor, similar to the one that swore Saul and Ben were secretly fighting for the head chef’s hand in marriage that was only disproved by the head chef revealing that not only was she a lesbian but she was happily married for almost thirty two years. It was a normal Tuesday when he received the letter from his mom, trying not to let his fellow Specialists know just how excited he was. When he opened the letter, his face grew carefully blank and he left without a word. Without thinking, his feet led him to the Calming Corner.

Around the same time, Headmistress Dowling’s eyes flashed blue. Her students caught the sudden change and began packing up their things. They were used to the Headmistress needing to leave before the end of a lesson at random times, but she always made up for the time loss and made sure all the students were where they needed to be. 

Her eyes faded to brown and she nodded to the students, “Continue to practice today’s lesson. Also! Make sure to read chapter 3 of your books, there will be a test.” She looked around the room, her face stern as there were several groans around the room. 

Once everyone had filed out, Farah hastened to the Calming Corner. One of her students needed her. 

She rounded the corner and spied a third year Specialist, Gideon if she was not mistaken and she had yet to forget a name. 

She sat down quietly next to the young man who had his head in his hands, using one of Saul’s breathing techniques. She could tell the moment he realized she was there because he stiffened, she could also tell the moment he realized who she was because he relaxed. 

She sat by him quietly as he focused on his breathing. She spied the letter next to him, but refused to read it and invade his privacy. She thought for a moment, running through the list of possibilities of what it could be. 

“When I was your age, I was a soldier.” She began, focusing on her hands and the way her fingers rubbed against her palm, “I had lost my parents before I could walk but my sister was just old enough to be declared my guardian. She had taken care of me the best she could until I was old enough to attend Alfea.” 

“What happened then?”

“She disappeared. My...mentor,” she hesitated, “told me that she had been deemed unfit to continue to be my guardian so she could no longer contact me, but somewhere inside… I knew what happened to her. She was never cut out for times of war.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s ancient history. I’m only telling you this so you know that whatever it is,” she nodded to the letter, “I have an inkling of what you are going through if you need to talk.” 

They were silent for a little while longer, Farah projecting Strength and Comfort the best she could as Gideon gathered his thoughts.

Before he knew it, he found himself spilling the history that had led up to his mom’s letter and what it meant to him. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but through it all Headmistress Dowling was his anchor. Finally, he ran out of things to talk about and they sat there in peace for a few moments more. 

Headmistress Dowling did not offer advice, knowing he was not in the mood to heed any. She had listened, she had understood, that was enough. 

He suddenly understood why everyone left the Calming Corner, well, calm. He also understood why no one ever revealed that Headmistress Dowling was the reason that students left better than they came. No student would ever come if they knew the truth. He felt a little guilty for ever doubting the rumor mill, but who could really blame them? Currently, everyone was convinced that Professor Harvey was married to a poisonous cactus that he kept in his greenhouse. 

Farah sensed it was time for her to leave and patted his shoulder, rising to attend to the mountain of paperwork that her afternoon away had no doubt caused. But, she decided as she watched Gideon walk away lighter than he had come, it was worth it.

It always was.

#4  
Thursday nights, or “Thirsty Thursdays” as their students called them when they thought the adults were out of hearing range, were for quiet nights in, sipping whisky in Farah’s space crammed onto the couch or in their favorite spots across the room. On those nights, one of the staff agreed to watch over the kids although it mostly proved unnecessary since Saul and Ben made sure their children were out cold before coming over and they stayed that way until Saul and Ben made their way back. 

Tonight, however, found Ben and Saul slumped together on the couch sound asleep before they had finished their glasses. Farah shook her head affectionately and grabbed the glasses from loose fingers before they could fall to the floor and shatter. As soon as their hands were freed, the boys shifted in their sleep, unconsciously shifting closer until they were cuddling.

Farah stifled a laugh and pulled out her faded quilt to cover them, but not before she took a picture for posterity. This was not something she would ever want to forget. 

There was a soft knock at the door. She tilted her head, her eyes glowing faintly before turning back to their normal brown. Even after all these years, she couldn’t shake the habit of reaching out and seeing if there was an enemy at her door. Especially when her boys were fast asleep. 

But it was just the children shuffling anxiously at the door. 

“Aunty Farah?” Sam reached up and made grabby hands.

“What’s the matter?” She asked in her softest voice, “Bad dreams?” She asked as she felt the anxiety bleeding through the air.

Terra and Sky nodded as she scooped Sam up. He settled into her shoulder, holding onto her earlobe in a way he hadn’t since he was a toddler. Sky latched onto her leg immediately. 

“There’s monsters in there.” Sky murmured into her leg. 

“Is there?”

“Yeah! Imma fight ‘em!” Terra announced, “But Sam says no.” 

“Well, I won’t let monsters in my school.” Farah reached her hand down for someone to hold. Sky bravely detached himself to grab her hand.

“You won’t?” His big blue eyes looked up at her with absolute trust. 

“I won’t. In fact, I am going to chase those monsters out myself.”

“Yay!” Terra cheered, holding onto Sky’s hand once it was clear the older boy wasn’t going to budge until everyone held hands. Sam was suspiciously silent, the only way she knew he was away was because she  
could still feel him playing with her hair.

Farah steered them back towards Ben’s place. Logically, she knew she should have gone to Saul’s room since it was closer, but Terra couldn’t stand sleeping in a place with no plants and Saul had a disturbingly black thumb.

She kept up a constant stream of conversation, drawing the kids away from thoughts of monsters and coaxing them into telling her about their days. Terra was in the middle of telling how her brother accidentally walked through a wall and into a room where girls were putting on makeup and tried to put lipstick on Sam when they arrived. 

The kids steered her towards Ben’s bedroom when Sam began shaking, Sky dove behind her leg, and Terra stayed unmoving, glaring into the darkness. She carefully untangled Sam from around her neck and set him down with his sister. 

“I’m going to go scare the monsters away, stay here okay?”

“Okay.” Terra answered while the boys clung together. 

She turned and walked into the dark room, dutifully checking under the large, the closet, and outside the window. She frowned, conjuring a constellation of small lights to illuminate the room. She dimmed them, making them the soft hues of the northern lights and checked the room again. Finally, she figured out that there was a tree branch smacking into the window. With a quick murmured apology to Ben, she used her magic to slice the branch.

“Alright, the monsters are gone.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. You can come see for yourself.”

They shuffled into the room and looked around at the lights, their eyes softening in wonder. She felt the last of the fear leave them and sighed with relief. She tucked all three of them into the large bed, not realizing she was humming her tune.

“Stay?” Three pairs of eyes settled on her. Terra even patted the bed next to her.

And really, with her boys tucked safely in her space and out for the count, how could she refuse?

“Alright.” She toed off her shoes and loosened her hair, “But I have to leave early.” She warned.

“Okay.” They sleepily nodded, used to Farah’s busy schedule. She slipped under the blankets.

“Goodnight.” She whispered and began to hum, on purpose this time, her tune until they all fell asleep.

True to her word, she was gone and had arrived back to her office in time to watch Saul and Ben wake up tangled together in confusion as she sipped on her morning tea.

#5 Stella  
“Headmistress Dowling!” Kay burst past Callum into her office during her lunch with Ben, “You need to come quickly. There’s been an accident.” 

Farah dropped everything and all but sprinted after the Specialist, she could hear Ben thumping behind her. She followed the girl without question back to the suite where the first year girls were staying.  
There she found the Princess of Solaria sobbing, crouched over someone on the floor. 

“I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to, I swear! I’m so sorry Ricky, I’m so sorry. Ricky? Ricky!” The girl screamed, shaking her best friend.

Gently, but firmly, she pulled Stella away from the unconscious girl and let Ben look over the girl. 

“What happened.” It was not a question.

“I heard them arguing in their room. Stella came bursting out, but Ricky dragged her back in. Then there was this light, I ran to get you when I heard the screaming.” 

“You did the right thing.” Farah nodded at the Specialist, “Help Professor Harvey take Ricky to the infirmary while I take Stella to my office.” 

“Yes Headmistress.” Kay nodded, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. She would be a good Specialist, Farah noted absentmindedly, for she was calm, collected, and unfazed. She made a mental note to talk to  
Saul about her.

For now, she trusted Ben to do what he did best and spirited the still-sobbing girl away to her office. No one saw them.

She settled Stella down onto her couch and projected calm. 

“S-Sh-She j-just gr-grabbed me,” Stella managed between sobs, on the verge of hyperventilating, “I-I, I thought…I-I d-didn’t kn-know-” 

Magic, Farah knew, was intertwined with emotions in a tangled web that could never be separated. Everyone knew Stella loved Ricky more than anyone else in all the realms, for that love to be overwritten by another emotion? It did not bode well. Farah’s jaw clenched as her worst suspicions about Stella’s upbringing were confirmed. She hushed the girl, wrapping her arms around her and let her cry into her shoulder, heedless of the makeup smearing her blouse. 

She hummed her tune, rocking the teenager gently as she still projected Calm and Safety until Stella’s breathing more or less evened out.

One day later, Queen Luna demanded Farah fix her broken daughter.

Two days later, the rumor mill had decided that Stella was a cold-hearted bitch who blinded her best friend on purpose for looking at Sky. Better to look like a powerful psychopath than weak, right? 

#1  
Bloom apologizing for being a brat was the last thing she had expected after the Burned Ones had been dealt with once more. 

“Do you do hugs?”

Farah didn’t know her heart could still break after everything that had happened. After everything she had done for her students, did they really think her to be so cold and unfeeling that she didn’t hug?

Between one beat and the next Bloom was in her arms. She hesitated a moment before wrapping her arms around Bloom, squeezing her eyes shut tight against the tears that threatened to come. 

She had tried so hard to step out of the shadows of her past, overcome all that she had been taught to give these kids the bright future she had never had. Was she really failing them? She stepped back and busied herself with tea, making a comment she was sure was witty and clever to buy herself some time. 

But it bothered her. It bothered her even more after Bloom left. 

Was she really that terrible with children? 

She set her tea aside, perhaps she was. Her tea grew cold as she left to give the former Burned Ones a proper burial.

**Author's Note:**

> Random Fact: this was written to "I Am" by James Arthur on repeat.


End file.
